Favela Rising (2005)

Favela Rising is a documentary about the afro-reggae movement in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil focusing primarily on Anderson, the leader of the movement. Overall, the documentary shows the social-economic problems in the "favelas" or slums in Brazil and how the afro-reggae band created a community that kept the youth away from the drug cartels.

Cinematically speaking, I was kind of disappointed. The colors seemed fake and manipulated. The color balancing changed frequently in different shots. Also, the individual interviews with Anderson were lit in a cliche way that made the set seem cheesy. The music also seemed tasteless and did not fit the brazilian scenario, specially when they played a sentimental piano melody over images of suffering. It felt very manipulative but ineffective. It would probably be better if the music coordinator took advantage of the brazilian music and the afro-reggae band and played that instead.

Taking away the production aspects, the documentary portrayed an interesting solution to social-economic issues. The interviews and the sequence of the story captured the essence of the people and the movement.

-Samira